Chocolate Pork Chops

I need more room for my canned foods, so I'm cooking with the contents of the liquor cabinet more often.  I think the only thing in there that I bought is the sherry and creme de menthe.  Ten years, and I have not made much of a dent in the inventory.

So I got an idea to marinate pork chops in something and went rooting around.  There are two bottles of Sabra in there, which is chocolate-orange liqueur.  That could make a molé-adjacent sauce.  It did not escape me that I was going to be putting the national liqueur of Israel on pork.  The stuff is even kosher for Passover.  I think my parents bought it on their trip to Israel, some 20 years ago. It's a really neat bottle, but I'm not partial to the flavor of chocolate/orange.  The Danish cherry wine hiding behind it, however, is quite nice.

I'm loosely basing this on Paula Deen's chocolate spiced pork chops, but doing it as a marinade instead of a rub.  It was too cold to fire up the grill (which hasn't been cleaned in a year, but that's my own fault), so I pan-grilled it and finished in the oven, like Paula's recipe.  The remaining marinade was brought to a low boil to make it safe and thickened with cornstarch to make the sauce.

*1/2 C Sabra, creme de cacao, or other chocolate liqueur
2 Tb brown sugar
2 Tb vegetable oil, plus more for the pan
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
*1 tsp onion flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 to 1-1/2 lb pork chops (4)
1 Tb cornstarch, dissolved in 1/4 C water

1.  Whisk together first 10 ingredients (through pepper).  Place pork chops in a shallow dish and pour marinade over.  Cover and refrigerate 4 hours, turning over halfway through.

2.  Drizzle about 1 Tb oil in an oven-proof skillet large enough for all the pork chops.  It should lightly cover the bottom.  If you have cast iron, great.  Preheat oven to 350º, and heat the pan over medium.

3.  Add pork chops to the skillet, letting excess marinade fall back into the pan first.  Fry on each side until they start to crisp, about 3 minutes.  Place skillet in oven until center of the chops reaches 155º, about another 3-7 minutes, depending on thickness.

4.  While the meat is in the oven, heat the remaining marinade in a small saucepan until it comes to a low boil.  If necessary, add water to bring it to 1/2 C of liquid.  Cook for 2 minutes.  Add cornstarch slurry to thicken the marinade into a sauce.

5.  Serve pork chops hot, drizzled with the chocolate sauce.

Difficulty rating  π